Maytree News Headlines – November 10, 2010

Canadians want to mix up immigration (Toronto Sun)Forget changing whether we take more family immigrants or skilled workers, a new poll shows Canadians want to shake up the selection of countries from which we select immigrants.A Leger Marking poll of 1,503 Canadians found that 40% of Canadians say the government should limit immigrants from certain countries in order to change the mix of immigrants coming to Canada.”Quebec and Ontario are really looking for a different mix,” said Dave Scholz, vice-president of Leger.Quebecers were most likely to agree with the statement that “Canada should limit immigrants from certain countries to provide a more balanced mix of new immigrants to Canada,” with 35%.Just 25% of Albertans felt the same way. In Ontario, 29% agreed with limiting immigrants from some countries in order to balance the mix but Ontarians were most likely to say that “Canada should ban immigrants from some countries that are over-represented in our country to allow other immigrants from other countries a chance to have more access,” with 14% agreeing with the statement.http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/11/09/16054901.html

Students embrace their culture (Mississauga.com)Students new to Peel were told today to embrace and be proud of their culture, since it gives them a leg up on people who were born in Canada. Harmony Movement, a non-profit equality group, engaged more than 250 middle school students from the Peel District School Board at the HJA Brown Education Centre during the second annual New North: Exploring Youth Identity in Canada conference. “You guys already know a second language, a second culture. It’s a special privilege to be a newcomer,” said one of the group’s program officers, Rima Dib.http://www.mississauga.com/news/article/900442–students-embrace-their-culture

New Study Finds Immigrants Vital for Canada (IDN InDepthNews)Immigration and innovation are closely linked, and because innovation is the sine qua non of competitiveness in the twenty-first century world, immigrants as innovators play a critical role in boosting Canada’s global competitiveness. This is the main thrust of a new research report by the Conference Board of Canada released in October 2010. The 60-page study by Michelle Downie is intended to help government and business recognize the potential value of immigration to innovation performance, which would make Canada a more innovative country. Underlying the report is a comprehensive approach to understanding and quantifying the relationship between immigration and innovation.http://www.indepthnews.net/news/news.php?key1=2010-11-09%2021:38:04&key2=1

‘White privilege’ references pulled from campaign (Toronto Sun)Following a maelstrom of complaints, the contentious material contained in a city-sponsored anti-racism campaign has been pulled. “It just sent the wrong message,” said John Reilly, a diversity and inclusion consultant with the city. “We certainly did not mean to offend people with this. We would apologize to anybody who felt offended by that.” The Racism-Free Edmonton campaign was meant to be focused on identifying and resolving institutional barriers faced by aboriginal people and other racial groups in Edmonton. But some wording on its website, racismfreeedmonton.ca, drew heated criticism.http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/11/09/16058306.html

Workplace Diversity and Inclusiveness Forum: Translating Diversity into Business Advantage – Dec 6-7 Toronto (Conference Board of Canada)Optimize the benefits of your workforces diversity. Capitalize on the energy and talent of each individual in your organization. Learn about new immigrants and innovation from original Conference Board research. Meet leading practitioners and benefit from their forward thinking.http://www.conferenceboard.ca/conf/10-0165/default.aspx

Understanding how political parties nominate candidates (DiverseCity blog)Are you interested in becoming a candidate in the 2011 provincial election and belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in elected office? School4Civics is launching a new learning opportunity this fall: Understanding political party nominations.http://diversecitytoronto.ca/blog/?p=655

Video: Michael Adams talks diversity at Humber (Humber College)Michael Adams, author and founder of social research firm Environics, recently visited Humber as part of the 2010/2011 Presidents Lecture Series. His discussion drew heavily from data collected in his most recent publication, Unlikely Utopia, where he observes that the diversity experiment in Canada has been a surprising success.http://www.humber.ca/michael-adams-talks-diversity-at-humber

Minister Kenney marks the development of the Ottawa Protocol (CIC)Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today released the following statement: I congratulate the second annual conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) for concluding with the development of the Ottawa Protocol. This week marks the 72nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, when Jewish homes and properties were attacked in Germany and Austria in 1938. In remembering this, this Protocol is a fitting way to conclude an event that has drawn parliamentarians, dignitaries and experts from more than two dozen countries.http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-11-10.asp

On the Front Lines of Integration (Cities of Migration Good Idea)Police play a unique role in society that requires that they understand the needs and opinions of the community they serve and protect. When the community trusts and respects the police force, it makes the relationship stronger and more effective for both. In the district of Fuenlabrada, on the outskirts of Madrid, the local police service is actively working to incorporate these principles into practical measures that will increase social cohesion and trust.http://citiesofmigration.ca/on-the-front-lines-of-integration/lang/en/

Madrid: A European capital embracing integration – PDF (via Cities of Migration)This paper analyzes the data collected from face-to-face interviews conducted on 10 and 11 November 2009 with migrants and integration practitioners in Madrid and assesses the outcome of the integration schemes put in place by the Spanish government and regional and local authorities over the last six years. Highlights include the importance of migrants as the primary stakeholders in the complex process of integration and the need for investment in inclusion and education policies to help migrants to settle and the host society to accept newcomers.http://ec.europa.eu/bepa/pdf/publications_pdf/madrid.pdf

Manifesto for Police Diversity Management – DOC (via Cities of Migration)On June 18, 2010, the Platform for the Police Management of Diversity was signed by the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, the Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia, the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Unión Nacional de Jefes y Directivos de Policía Local (Unijepol), with the participation as an observer organization of Amnesty International.http://citiesofmigration.ca/wp-content/uploads/manifiesto-plataforma-definitivo_en.doc

REFUGEES

Canada’s Bill C-49 will create two classes of refugees (Calgary Beacon)Bill C-49, tabled by Public Security Minister Vic Toews on October 21st, marks a dramatic change in Canadas approach to dealing with refugees. Under the United Nations Convention respecting the Status of Refugees, a states basic obligations only require it to provide refugees with a safe haven and not to refoule (that is return them to their country of origin) those found to be at risk of persecution in their own countries.http://www.calgarybeacon.com/2010/11/canada%E2%80%99s-bill-c-49-will-create-two-classes-of-refugees/

Huge costs of government bill highlighted (CCR)The Canadian Council for Refugees today called on parliamentarians to reject Bill C-49, a bill that would be extremely costly both to Canadians and to people seeking refugee protection in Canada. Key provisions of Bill C-49 include mandatory detention for a year without review and the denial of permanent status for five years to some recognized refugees. These measures would be extremely costly, in terms of tax dollars, in terms of human suffering and in terms of Canadas credibility internationally, said Wanda Yamamoto, CCR President. We dont believe that Canadians want their tax dollars spent on locking up innocent children. And we know that keeping refugees in limbo leads only to disastrous consequences. According to the Auditor General, keeping a person in detention costs between $120 and $238 per day (2006-2007 figures). There were 49 children on the MV Sun Sea: keeping them in detention for a year would cost at a minimum over two million dollars. The cost of detaining everyone who arrived on the MV Sun Sea for a year would be over 21.5 million dollars.http://ccrweb.ca/en/bulletin/10/11/09

Canada, Thailand reach deal to combat migrant smuggling (Canada.com)Thailand, a key staging ground for human smugglers selling passage to Canada, has agreed to deepen its cooperation with Ottawa to combat illegal migration. The announcement followed a meeting between Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and Prime Minister Stephen Harpers special envoy on human smuggling, Ward Elcock. The Thai foreign ministry said in a news release it was willing to share know-how and best practices with Canada and organize training courses for enforcement agencies. It also said it was ready to work with Canadian officials to provide assistance on socio-economic development to countries of origin as a pre-emptive measure to address the problem.http://www.canada.com/technology/Canada+Thailand+reach+deal+combat+migrant+smuggling/3803236/story.html

CITY OF TORONTO/CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

The NFB’s innovative Out my Window online documentary looks out of Toronto’s windows and beyond (Yonge Street Media)Produced by the National Film Board and directed by Katerina Cizek, the documentary has the deceptively simple mission of guiding you through stories of highrise-dwellers in Toronto and around the world, a type of housing more and more people find themselves in. As it says on the opening screen, “The towers in the world, the world in the towers.” Through an innovative technique of stitching photos together to construct 360 degree scenes, viewers are able to make themselves at home in these apartments, browsing the interiors casually, and going deeper into embedded stories at any point. Hours of content, including multiple music videos, are navigable at your own pace, and in several other ways: through a visual interface that looks like a building; through a map; or by browsing the faces of the featured residents. Even the method of directing is novel: Cizek led some direction via Skype, Facebook, and email.http://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/features/nfbhighrise1110.aspx

Health Care Innovation: But Not Without Equity (Wellesley Institute)The Globe and Mail has been running a week-long series on the potential of innovation and private health care delivery. A Nov 9 article focused on private firms providing second opinions and health system navigation is in danger of missing the key point about this innovation: the point is not that the innovations they describe are private. The vital directions covered evidence-based practice guidelines and standards of care, sophisticated management of processes and people, building quality into routine delivery, and all based upon effective electronic health records are all being done in the public system. But not broadly enough, and the lessons learned are not being effectively spread through the system. The challenge is to ensure these quality drivers are implemented everywhere, all the time.http://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/uncategorized/health-care-innovation-but-not-without-equity/

Child poverty needs to be high priority (Belleville Intelligencer)How many of us, in the recent municipal elections in Alberta and Ontario, grilled candidates about child poverty? How many debates were organized on child poverty? How many people, instead, asked their candidates about property taxes and water rates and roads? We’d all have been better off if we focused on helping children out of poverty. It is one of those pervasive conditions that is not simply unjust, but drags a society down.http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2838242

HUMAN TRAFFICKING/MODERN-DAY SLAVERY

Human trafficking focus of two-day forum (TheNorthernView.com)The RCMP held a two-day conference in Prince Rupert last week on human trafficking and sexual exploitation called Out of the Shadows. The audience of about 100 during the public session was made up of community leaders, residents and representatives from a wide range of organizations that deal with the human trafficking, victims of sexual crimes, and the sex trade.http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_north/thenorthernview/news/106933018.html

OTHER SOCIAL COMMENTARY

Prime Minister Announces the Launch of Economic Consultations (Canada News Centre)Prime Minister Stephen Harper today launched economic consultations to seek Canadians’ views on the next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. He was accompanied by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, Ted Menzies. The Prime Minister made the announcement in Winnipeg during a meeting with small business owners and hard working families to discuss economic opportunities and ways to build Canada’s economic future.http://news.gc.ca/web/article-eng.do?m=/index&nid=572329